In Silence
by BML Hillen-Keene
Summary: A reason to live, that was Reeve wanted to be. For Vincent. But as the battle with Deepground nears it's explosove end, things are about to become personal on a whole new level
1. Assault on Midgar

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Disclaimer: Do not own.

I have just completed Dirge of Cerberus! (Took me 24 hrs, which is a miracle as I hate shooting games!) Still haven't finished the actual ff7 game though, but I'm at least on the third disk (The Weapons are evil!) at any rate, I completely fell in love with Reeve in the game (And surprisingly Yuffie, she's actually sorta sweet in a way) So when the assault on Midgar began, and Reeve said 'Vincent. I'll see you before deployment', and the scene never came, and we didn't see any sight of Reeve after that, my fanfic brain went wild. So for the continuity of this little story, please disregard the fact that Reeve did show up briefly as Omega spawned, and enjoy this fic.

Pairing: Vincent/Reeve, because surprisingly they're even cuter together than VinCid (Which is saying something as I love VinCid!)

Warnings: Some bad language (Courtesy of Cid mostly); Mentions of sexual situations (No hard details, just be aware); And fluff, lots of fluff! After the angst and hurt of course. Also, be advised, I am taking major liberties with the storyline and the characters in this.

**Assault on Midgar**

"Vincent."

Reeve turned from Shelke and levelled a look on Vincent, so much he wanted to say but couldn't. Somehow over the short time they had been working together the feelings he had found himself harbouring for Vincent had grown. He was also almost convinced that Vincent returned those feelings, even if just a little. He wanted to tell Vincent before everything happened, and maybe, just maybe, Vincent wouldn't let himself get killed.

He wanted to be Vincent's reason to live.

"I'll see you before deployment."

Vincent nodded to him, and Reeve gave a final nod to both he and Shelke before leaving the bay to speak to his troops. Things became busy very quickly, and he soon became lost in the hubbub surrounding the drop. He himself would be staying on board the Shera for the duration. He asked Cid to rally the troops before the drop as he was preoccupied with a problem in drop points.

By the time he had the chance to find Vincent and speak to him it was already too late, he reached the bay as the group Vincent would be going down with was readying to drop. He was about to call out, hold Vincent back for just a moment, tell him to come back safe, tell him of his feelings… Kiss him… when the whole bay went up in flames and noise as a missile hit.

Then there was nothing but frightening slow silence as Reeve was thrown back, hands scrabbling for any purchase on the metal of the ship. The sudden turn the Shera negated any purchase he had gotten and he was thrown from the vessel, and all he knew, for the longest of times, was falling, the way missiles and magic flew around him, all miraculously missing him, and then the sudden and jarring impact with the ground, and everything went black.

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Yes, I am evil and it is short, but it will all become clear soon. This is merely the prologue, more to come, probably tonight as I am a little hyped over completing the game. I apologise to those who can remember exact lines from things and will probably be annoyed that I never quote properly. I'm useless as remembering exact lines, I just try to get the meaning across as best I can.

Please review, next chapter up soon.


	2. Rosso

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Disclaimer: Don't own

For your reference, Vincent has defeated Rosso and Azul and Yuffie has just rescued him from Nero. (I do love the way she introduces herself).

**Rosso**

Vincent let out a low, long sigh, not knowing where to even begin now. Cid's airship was down. Cid would be fine, Vincent knew that without a doubt, but maybe he would give him a call anyway once Yuffie had left, just to check in, after all, Cid had quickly become he closest companion of all those in the Jenova war, the only one not to leave him to brood, but to get him to stop not by being overly cheerful as Yuffie and Cait had been wont to do, but to tell him, plainly to get a grip get off his ass and get moving.

And while he was at it he could inquire about Reeve. He had only truly begun to get to know the man a mere few weeks before this whole incident, it had been a chance encounter, he had bumped into Reeve in Edge, and though Vincent hadn't recognised him Reeve had quickly monopolised his attention and time and the two had had a drink together.

He had surprised himself by genuinely liking the man,. Afterwards Reeve had somehow gotten his number, and He got the occasional text or call through, nothing intrusive, just small things, a quick hello, was he anywhere close to WRO and could he come out for a drink. Kalm had actually been the first place the two of them were going to be in the same area since their first drink and Deepground had attacked.

He had no real feelings for the man, he felt the same way for him as he did everyone else in the group really. But he had surprised himself by the particular protective feeling he had gotten when he had thought Reeve had been killed, he had tried to pass it off, sure he would have reacted the same if it had been anyone else. But Reeve had quickly proven himself to have a knack for getting himself in troublesome situations (throwing open the back of an armoured truck while being chased by Guard hounds? ). Running into a dangerous situation when Deepground had attacked WRO headquarters. The man was their boss, their leader, without him Vincent was fairly sure the whole company would fall apart.

Yes, Reeve's knack for ending up in dangerous situations was troubling, and each time Vincent's heart had practically constricted, thinking he wouldn't get there in time, wouldn't be able to protect him.

He watched Yuffie bounce off. She too was a rather worrisome character, if it wasn't for the fact that he had seen her skills himself he wouldn't have believed she could fight at all with how clumsy she tended to be. He pulled out his phone, casting a last look back to the containment unit Shelke was inside, he dialled Cid's number.

It answered on the second ring.

"Vincent! Can't talk now, got some goddamned Deepground bastards surrounding us!" Cid answered, and the sounds of battle were loud on the other end.

Vincent hesitated, it was obvious Cid was rather preoccupied, he had taken Vincent's silence as the chance to start yelling at some hapless WRO soldier, with a number of words included Vincent would have rather not heard.

"Everything's fine this end, 'cept for the fact me baby crashed. We'll hook up fer that drink after this crap is dealt with yeah? Gotta go Vince!" and he hung up, in his own, brusque way he had just calmed Vincent's fears. It was time to move on.

~x~

Cid hung up, grimacing. He hated lying, absolutely hated it, and boy had he been lying. Half his crew disappeared without a trace, including Reeve and that Shelke girl, if he had even let on he knew Vincent would have pulled out; intent on finding them. They were alike in that respect, him and Vincent, they didn't leave anyone behind if they could help it. And though Cid wasn't too sure what connection Vincent had with the girl, he knew had been actively (Well, as actively as Vincent ever did) been creating an honest friendship with Reeve. Hell, he had been put on hold once or twice in the past while if he gave Vincent a call when Reeve had been on the other line.

Vincent might not have realised it, but Cid had a woman to point out the finer details of things (when he bothered to listen that was), and she had told him that Vincent was probably developing feelings for Reeve, but just hadn't realised because he had been so devoid of human contact for years. And still hooked on this Lucrecia bird he kept harping on about.

So yes, had he told Vincent the truth, he knew Vincent would have pulled out to find Reeve, and they couldn't afford that right now.

"Fuck!" he breathed, tightening his grasp on his spear, looking round at the madness everywhere. Wherever Reeve was, he hoped he wasn't stuck in this. The man didn't have the sense Gaia gave him when it came to actual fighting. Though his strategies were damn good he had to admit.

He looked around at the WRO soldiers trading bullets with Deepground. "Come on you lot of pansy asses!" he yelled, darting forward. "Lets show those bastards what we're made of!" and he was jumping over their heads and was in the thick of it, ignoring the bullets which pinged harmlessly off the Big guard he'd cast, he wouldn't have long before it wore off, but he was going to use it to his full advantage.

~x~

Reeve slowly opened his eyes., the air was alive with bright flashes and explosions. He lay, happily numb for a moment, waiting for his brain to reconnect fully and tell him where he was and why. The pain came first, a deep, stabbing and throbbing of his entire right side, and it made his breath catch in pure agony. He didn't know whether it would be better to stay where he was, with his own weight crushing possibly broken bones, but avoiding aggravating a spinal or neck injury, or move.

The decision was taken out of his hands entirely as where he was, was rocked by an explosion and he was roughly shaken off his side and to his back. The muted howl of pain went unheard in the drone of gunfire from below. He lay still, but after a long moment he decided it was safe to assume he didn't have a broken back or neck. All too soon he realised the worst of the pain came from his arm, he could practically feel the bones grinding against each other at multiple breaks.

He grit his teeth, and tried to remember how he had gotten here, but all he remembered was falling. He looked up at the sky, the sounds of gunfire and explosions fading in and out. There was a lightshow unlike any he had ever seen. Much more impressive than when Rufus had become president of Shinra, every bright light was someone's death. One might even be his.

He blinked slowly. He needed to move. He wasn't entirely sure why just yet, but he needed to. It was a struggle to sit up, every movement made scratches and bruises known, and made his bones ache and move beneath his skin in ways they shouldn't.

Standing, he needed to get to his feet. He looked around helplessly for anything he could use to pull himself upright, but there was nothing in reach. Well, he would just have to use his own power, such as it was. With great effort, pushing past the fire that raced through his skin he forced himself round until he was on his knee's, his good hand clutching his broken one tight to his body. Unable to get further, feeling ill he struggled to think past the pain. He needed to do something about his arm and quickly. But what? It was broken in multiple places, he couldn't hold it in any position.

He blinked hopelessly, looking around again, but there was nothing around him save broken masonry. Sitting back on his heels, and winching at the pain that flared up along his right leg he thought, and thought hard.

He could have slapped himself when the idea came to him. His coat. He was wearing a long coat. Gently moving his arm until it hung gracelessly at his side he quickly struggled out of his coat, biting back cries of pain as he took the sleeve off his broken arm, though his tears flowed freely. When it was off completely he then shrugged his good arm back into it's arm, a few pain filled moments preceded his being able to pull the other half over his injured side. Positioning his arm as best he could he pulled the coat back round until the front touched.

It was a frustrating a sore time as he finally managed to hook the clasp and pulled the zip up his front, effectively immobilising his bad arm as best he could at his front. He decided after the pain had receded a little that he really needed to start bringing a potion or two with him no matter what was going on. Or a restore materia. But he normally left such things to Cait, after all, it wasn't like he was normally in dangerous painful situations.

Using his now free hand he managed to push himself shakily to his feet, and when he was standing he realised he might be in more trouble than he had previously thought. He was atop a building, quite close to the old Shinra building if he wasn't mistaken. And there did not seem to be any way down that would not require a serious amount of effort, strength and the use of two working arms.

His legs gave way beneath him as his situation crashed down on him hard. He stared at the Shinra building, feeling himself begin to shiver. He wondered how Vincent was doing.

~x~

She watched him with a slight, cruel twist to her lips. The Commissioner of the WRO, sitting on a roof with no way off. She had seen his picture once, when they were being briefed on their missions, and had been disappointed when she had not been given the task to kill him. He was exquisite, and she knew she could make him scream. She loved killing, loved being bathed in the blood of her victims. It didn't matter who they were, or what they were.

But him...

He had made her stop, and consider how beautiful it would be to torture, to elicit every last ounce of pain from that body, to force every scream past those lips, and to have those kind and accepting eyes stare at her in pure fear, terror even.

She had itched when she had seen his file, itched to rip his skin to shreds, in a way that she couldn't make sense of, and yet did not want to.

The Commissioner of the WRO, friend of Vincent Valentine.

Well, if Vincent Valentine survived the others, and somehow managed to stop Weiss, which she didn't doubt, he had beaten her after all, she would like to fight him again. And next time she would destroy him. He was a caring fool, he would come for one of his own, which was what the Commissioner was.

And while she waited for him to come she could have her way with the Commissioner.

Reeve Tuesti...

Her lips curled further, and she eyed him, a sick and twisted lust for him curled in her stomach.

He would be hers, for as long as she wished it.

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Eheh… well… I surprised myself with this one… I'm pretty sure this wasn't what I was originally going for, but it seemed to work. Please forgive any glaring errors, and I hope you enjoyed. More soon.

Please review.


	3. Lost Souls

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Disclaimer: Still don't own or Reeve and Cid would have gotten more air time, especially poor Reeve.

I'm still totally shocked that after having Reeve in so much of the first half he just totally fizzled and didn't even get a proper ending, would it have killed the creators to have had Reeve and Vincent have a little bit at the end where Reeve thanks Vin for all his help, and then in the next breath asks him to join WRO officially. And Vincent would look all serious and stuff and say something like how he would, just to keep Reeve out of trouble or something.

Well, I would have liked it, Reeve really did sort of put himself in dangerous situations without really thinking about it. Seriously, who throws open the door of a moving truck? Anyway, rant over. Based after the fight with Omega, Vincent, of course, won.

**Lost Souls**

Yuffie saw Cid come strolling down the street, and was out of Tifa's bar and beside him in an instant. "Well?" she demanded to know. Face earnest, eyes pleading with him to tell her something good. He took his cigarette out of his mouth with one hand and reached over to ruffle her hair with the other.

"Nuthing." he said.

"And you searched everywhere?" she asked, looking towards the ruins of Midgar.

"Everywhere I could get the airship." he told her.

She heaved an angry sigh. "How could he just go missing like that?" she asked. Cid didn't answer. Yuffie sighed again. "Has Cloud found Vincent yet?" she asked after a long silence.

Cid shrugged. "Ain't heard a thing if he has." he said, inhaling the smoke and holding it for a moment before breathing out. He looked back at Midgar too, the ruins looking sort of picturesque with the sun setting behind them. Almost like it hadn't been the sight of a battle nearly a week ago.

"Hey Cid." Yuffie said, her voice, uncharacteristically subdued, he gave a small huff to show he was listening. "Do you think maybe Reeve was put into the Lifestream thing like all those others were?" It would have been one thing to lose Vincent, that was heartbreaking enough as it was. She had travelled with him, he had become part of her family. But to lose Reeve as well, he had somehow turned into a really cool older brother who let her get away with doing her 'Ninja' things without complaint like the others did.

"It's not fair!" she said, stamping her foot in irritation, knowing there was nothing she could do, but wanting so much to be able to just make Vincent and Reeve appear in front of her.

Cid's hand landed on her head again. "I know, but nothing we can do, save look fer 'em, and if we can't find 'em, we remember them." he shrugged, dropping his cig to the ground and stamping it out. "Come on, I'll buy you a drink." he offered.

He eyed him. "Whisky?" she asked slyly.

He laughed outright. "Let's try Soda and work our way up from there."

Letting him continue on to Tifa's bar Yuffie looked back at Midgar once more, wishing she knew what had happened, and sending a prayer to Leviathan that Vincent and Reeve were still alive, and safe.

~x~

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One Week Ago

"Hello, Commissioner."

Reeve's head snapped round, and he looked at the woman who stood close beside him. He blearily wondered how she had gotten so close. It took another minute or so for him to realise that she was a member of Deepground. But even as he realised it, he knew he would not be able to escape, shock had set him he thought, he wasn't even sure if he tried to stand he would be able to.

"Who--?" his voice cracked and he couldn't continue.

"Rosso the Crimson." she told him, her seductive voice rolling the words off, making him shudder hard, the undertone of malice caught him. "And I know who you are. I would say introductions are complete." she stepped closer, towering over his seated frame. He shifted slight so he could keep sight of her face. Was she going to kill him?

She sat beside him, on his bad side, which gave her a bigger advantage over him than she had already, he eyed her warily. She simply smiled at him.

"I wish to rip your skin from your body." she told him, as if it was a perfectly reasonable way to start a conversation. "I wish to hear to scream, beg me to stop. I wish to draw your blood from you and drink it, bathe in it. I wish to taste you." he wanted to shift away from her, get to his feet, run… anything. But she was frozen where he was, whether through his condition or her chilling words he did not know.

"We were all shown your file, Commissioner, all told that should we come across you we were to kill you, that you could prove dangerous to us." she watched him out of the corner of her eye. "I enjoy killing, I revel in killing." she told him, enjoying the disgust that filtered onto his face at the mere idea. "But do you know what I wanted to do when I saw you?" she asked, her voice drop pinging lower.

It took Reeve a few seconds longer than it should have for him to realise that her clawed hand, which resembled Vincent's somewhat in design, was stroking up his left thigh, the sharp points leaving tears in the fabric. His whole body tensed as her claw continued to dance it's way up and down his thigh.

"I wanted to use you, and destroy you. Make you howl in pain, plead in terror. I did not simply wish to kill you, I wished to make it last, for hours, days… years." she reached over and took his chin, forcing his head further round, until she could see him perfectly. "You are like the mouse to my cat little one, I wish to toy with you, until you grow bothersome, or boring, and then I shall end your life." she watched him swallow, trying to hide the fear she could smell off him. She leaned in, until they were nose to nose and gazed into those open eyes.

She smiled at him when she saw there that he hoped she would grow tired of him soon. She would need to correct this. She jerked his face forwards and forced on him a brutal kiss, the likes of which she had not experienced in a long time. She pulled back, licking some of his blood from her own lip, watching small drops drip from his lips to his chin. In his eyes was fear, he knew he was helpless to her desires.

"I hope." she said, sincerely. "I never grow tired of you." the claw on his thigh continued to move, moving ever upwards. She released his chin and stroked his face, leaving small bloody scratches on his face, she truly studied his face, and was very pleased to see that he was even more exquisite than his picture showed. She nodded to him. And knew he could read it in her face that she would never grow tired of him.

He was much too interesting for that.

"Shall we begin?" she asked him. "After all, there may not be much time before the end of the world."

Reeve found himself on his back, with Rosso straddling his pelvis, the impact, small though it was, jarred his arm and he let out a small cry of pain. He shut his eyes, struggling futilely against her, though knowing he would not succeed. He wished, a selfish wish he knew, but he wished Vincent would come to stop her. As she began, he regretted that he had never got to tell Vincent that he loved him. Regretted that he would never know if Vincent felt the same way for him.

"Vincent…" he breathed, a mere whisper, unheard over the sounds of war below. "Please."

Above him, Rosso smiled.

~x~

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Lucrecia's Cave

It had been over a week, since Vincent had found himself here, drawn by some invisible force, it had taken him a week to bring himself to say goodbye properly to her, knowing now why she had done what she had. And for the first time he felt free. His battle with Omega had been intense, and after it, his mind and body had somehow drifted, away fro Midgar and to here.

But he had worried his friends long enough he knew. They had probably searched the ruins of Midgar for him. With a final goodbye to Lucrecia he left her cave and made his way back to the plains, surprised to find Shelke waiting for him, looking further down he could see everyone waiting, a huddled mass of colour and movement.

It was good to see they had come out unscathed. But as he approached them he realised Reeve was not among them, and was surprised, even if the man himself could not be here he was surprised to find Cait was not present instead. When everyone had made their hello's, glad to see your alright's and similar, and not a single person mentioned why Reeve was not here, and feeling a growing knot of worry in his gut, a feeling he had hoped he would not be feeling again.

It was probably just his imagination, perhaps he had grown too fond of Reeve in the short time he had known the man. But it felt uncomfortably like he had when he had been sure something was wrong with Lucrecia, when he had confronted her and Hojo both.

"Is Reeve rebuilding WRO headquarters?" he asked after a good few minutes of talk, thinking it to be a simple, leading question. He didn't like it when everything just went silent, and everyone shared uncomfortable looks.

"Reeve Tuesti was determined missing around the same time as I was taken from the Shera by Nero, searches have been conducted but there have been no positive reports." Shelke informed him quietly.

Vincent's world, for a moment, froze, and his heart clenched. He didn't fully understand this feeling, but before he could analyse it, it faded enough for him to function again. "Missing?" he questioned.

"Yep." Cid said, scratching the back of his head. "Damndest thing."

Yuffie could not seen to contain herself anymore, and tackled Vincent to the ground, hugging him firmly. Vincent blinked and looked at her, but her face was buried in his chest. "We think he was maybe taken and dropped into that life stream, Omega thingy." she mumbled, "like all the others who were taken." she lifted her head, tilting it until she could see his face. "I'm glad your not dead, it would have been awful if you had been gone forever too."

Then she seemed to realise what she was doing and how many people were watching and she pushed herself up and away, punching the air a few times to hide her blush and she said, in her most annoying tone. "And don't go disappearing like that again or I'll be forced to knock some sense into you!"

There was a faint round of subdued chuckles, but in truth, everyone felt the same way. Losing Reeve was losing another of their little family.

"We're going to hold a memorial for him in a week or two, we're waiting for some of the injured WRO soldiers to get well enough to attend." Tifa said.

Vincent got to his feet and nodded, wondering at the pain in his chest, not unlike that he had felt when Aries had died, except this was perhaps a little worse, and he didn't know why.

~x~

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Two weeks later

The memorial had gone as planned, most of them had gotten up to the stand to say something about Reeve, whether as a friend, a leader, it was very touching. Vincent had remained near the back, feeling uncomfortable, as if something was not quite right about the whole thing, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

When the memorial was finished, everyone filed out, some going to Tifa's, other's to other bars to commemorate Reeve. Vincent remained, watching them go, still feeling uneasy about something.

One of the WRO soldiers, of some rank or other approached him, and Vincent straightened up from his place leaning against the wall and faced him. The man saluted sharply. Vincent waved his claw at him. "There's no need to do that." he said.

The officer looked a little put out, but stood at ease and said, with no room left for misunderstandings. "Sir, what are your orders?"

"Orders?" Vincent questioned, since when was he the WRO's commanding officer?

The man nodded. "With the commissioner gone sir, the role falls to the next in line. Which is you sir."

Vincent blinked, long and slow, trying to make any of it make sense in his head. "Me?" he said at last.

"Yes sir."

"How exactly did this happen?"

The man looked genuinely surprised by the question. "Commissioner Tuesti put a great amount of trust in you sir, he informed the troops that should anything happen to him, whether he be injured, detained, out of communication for whatever reason, or… killed… that we should take our orders from you as much as possible, followed of course by Captain Highwind."

Vincent frowned. "He made me leader?" it was a surprise, and a somewhat unwelcome one.

"Yes Sir." the officer nodded. "If you could give me your orders, I could have the men mobilised as soon as I can. At the moment we're rebuilding WRO Headquarters."

Vincent was silent for a long time, considering. When he remembered. "Rosso the Crimson." he said, and elaborated on the officers confused 'sir?'. "She escaped, I assume her body was never found, she jumped form the Shinra building. She might still be out there, and she is dangerous. Where the other's killed for Wiess, she killed for sport. Do you think you could find if she survived, and her whereabouts?" he asked.

The officer saluted sharply. "How soon would you like the information sir?" he asked.

"As and when you get it." Vincent replied.

When the officer left, and Vincent found he was alone, he wondered just why he hadn't turned down the leadership, passed it to Cid, or someone better suited for it. He pushed his confusion aside and left the church and made his way towards Tifa's, knowing he would get no peace from Yuffie or Cid unless he had a drink with them.

He glanced at Midgar as he made his way through the streets. Wondering just what had happened to Reeve. That same uneasy feeling curled itself in his gut, like it had at the memorial service. Like there was something wrong about the whole thing. It had been building for two weeks, since he had found out Reeve was gone. There was no reason to believe he was alive, troops had scoured Midgar searching for him, and any other survivor. Had continued to do so right up until the memorial. It was agreed that he had most likely been taken by Nero and fed to Omega.

But still this feeling persisted, like he was overlooking, something… but there was nothing to have overlooked. His footsteps slowed as he thought back on the last time he had seen Reeve. He had looked at him with such intensity, as if there was some burning question he needed to ask, or something he needed to say.

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"Vincent. I'll see you before deployment."

Vincent stopped walking. But he hadn't. Vincent had just assumed it wasn't that important and could wait. Now he wondered. What had Reeve wanted to say to him?

_E…yeah… getting a bit heavy I suppose. But I actually quite like this story. Though I'm having a surprising amount of trouble with Vincent. As to Vin becoming the new head of WRO, in the game, did you notice how all the soldiers and that just looked to him for orders, almost like Reeve had briefed them "If I'm not there, this man's word is law!" while holding up a pic of Vincent. I hope you enjoyed._

_Please review._

_It's sort of disheartening when no one reviews at all, feels like no one actually likes it. So please, review._


	4. Tainted

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Disclaimer: Still don't own

Still being rather evil to Reeve. Vincent is still being troublesome, stupid man just won't fall in love with Reeve the way I want him to, but I suppose it'll happen as it does. Implied rape, and some non descriptive scenes (it's not written, but you'll get it). Rosso is wonderfully evil to write, I'm rather enjoying her, I can hear her voice in my head when she speaks.

**Tainted**

"Ah, darling, you look delicious!" Rosso beamed, stretching her body along Reeve's to lap at the blood on his chest. A month and she still had so much to do. She had barely scratched the surface, taking her time, now that she had it, to draw this out, she would make him suffer, in every way she could. Surprisingly she had found that anything of an intimate nature repulsed him, so she had adapted, fulfilling her own needs in that area as often as she pleased, loving the self disgust that washed across his face, the desperation to stop his body's natural response. it was a heady experience, and one she really, truly enjoyed. He was a talented man.

"Just kill me!" he ground out hoarsely, as he did once a day since she had taken him.

She pulled back, licking the remaining blood from her lips and smiling. "But darling," she told him, matter of factly. "I have not yet had the chance to peel your skin from your body while you writhe in agony, or remove each bone in your body, one at a time while you still breathe. There is so much I must do with you, so very much. And I cannot let the chance pass me by. So No, my darling, I will not kill you today."

He closed his eyes in despair.

She watched him, bending down for a last lick, swirling her tongue around a nipple, pleased as his body responded to her. She would destroy him, piece by piece, until he was nothing more than a shell. she would whittle him down to nothing, a mere shadow of who he once was. And perhaps then she would display him, have him ready should she feel the need to hurt him again. Or should she leave a glimmer of self within him, a faint light that could fester and then she could have the pleasure of destroying him all over again.

He was beautiful, everything she had ever wanted, a perfect victim for her whims.

And he was all hers.

~x~

Vincent had fallen into the role of leading the WRO surprisingly easily. It reminded him of his days paper pushing when he worked for the Turks. And there was a lot of Paperwork. How Reeve had coped with this and still found time to ask him out for drinks he couldn't even begin to guess. Thankfully Reeve's leadership had defined the WRO to the point that even though Vincent had replaced him, it functioned easily enough without him. For the moment at least.

Reeve's personal files had given him a detailed overview of every department, all current members and plans for expansion. Reeve had been a shrewd businessman, and it showed through. He had created at least twenty five year plans, with continued plans with multiple outcomes for ten years. He was very thorough.

But Vincent did feel uncomfortable, like he was taking over Reeve's life when he shouldn't. stepping into the mans shoes when he was still more than capable himself. It was unsettling. So he had simply set himself up as a temporary replacement, hoping in a few months he could pass the job on to someone else.

In another way he felt comfortable surrounded by Reeve's files, reading words penned by the man was comforting, in that way Reeve had. His heart twisted every time he remembered the man was dead now. If only he had not harboured Chaos, perhaps Reeve would still be alive.

And perhaps the world would now be an empty husk.

Was there any point in feeling guilty. He had been guilty for so many years. He had allowed that guilt to keep him locked away for thirty years. He had told Reeve that he had been a stone in the river of time before they had freed him, and reminded him to live again. He had made his peace, as much as he could, with his past. His mistakes would continue to follow him, but they no longer felt as pressing. They were the past, and without them the world would not be here.

Vincent heaved a sigh and sat his pen on the table, he had been tapping the ball on the page in front of him, leaving a bizarre pattern of dots there. This was frustrating. How could Reeve have left him in charge? Each of these files, filled with every detail of the WRO, with sections created for every contingency. There was even a personnel file on Shelke, with options given that would allow her to easily slot into the system here.

These files made it seem as if Reeve had known he would not be coming back, had known Vincent would be taking over.

That was a sobering thought, and not one Vincent wished to dwell on.

"Vincent Valentine."

"Shelke." he responded, not bothering to look at the girl, she was the only one to call him by his full name after all.

"You are working late." she said. "Tifa asked me to bring you some food." she approached the desk and set a package in front of him.

"Thank you." he told her, looking at her at last. Her eyes were glancing over the many papers strewn on the desk. For some reason he felt the need to explain. "Reeve left a lot of information to go through."

Shelke looked at him, her blue eyes steady on his. "Would it not have been easier to have it all on computer?" she asked him.

Vincent shrugged, he was from the world where you did reports on paper with pens, not screens and keyboards. "This was what was left. I don't work well with computers."

Shelke looked thoughtful before nodding. "He prepared well for your takeover it seems." she told him.

Vincent blinked, and frowned, looking at the piles of paper once again. She was correct, it would have been much easier for Reeve to use the computer on this, the man was a technological genius after all, but instead there was paper, much of it handwritten by Reeve himself. It took him a moment to realise Shelke had continued speaking.

"-- told him about the orders, I had expected him to simply hide. When he did not I thought him foolish, but it seems he had matters well in hand."

"Orders?" Vincent asked.

Shelke nodded. "When I agreed to aid you, after Shalua's… accident. I informed the Commissioner of our orders pertaining to him." her slight hesitance of her sisters death did not go unnoticed, but Vincent was more interested on these orders, had Deepground had other designs on Reeve? "We were all shown his file, and told that should we come across him we should kill him, that he could be dangerous."

"The WRO you mean." Vincent clarified.

Shelke shook her head. "No, the WRO was a small part of it. Reeve Tuesti himself was deemed dangerous to us, his leadership of the WRO leant him soldiers, but they were easily taken care of. I do not know much more than that, all I can surmise is that it was perhaps his connection with you all that was the dangerous part, or his strange ability to control those robotic cats he had."

Vincent sat back in his chair, frowning deeply. "Reeve… dangerous?" the mere thought was a tad absurd. Why should Reeve threaten an organisation such as Deepground? "Is that why he was taken then? It was an opportunity too good to miss."

Shelke called back his attention with a slight shifting of her bodyweight, and he focused on her, and on her very serious expression. "I am not sure he was taken at all in truth Vincent Valentine." she told him.

"And why is that?" he asked of her.

"After the drop over Midgar, I can recall no sign of him on the Shera. He may have been busy, but would he not have been in the cockpit or the lab? He was in neither the whole of the flight as far as I can tell. I could possibly be reading more into this than I should." she shrugged, and did not continue.

"What do you know of Rosso?" Vincent asked, there had been no word yet on her, whether she was alive or dead. "Do you have any idea if she survived, where she would go, what she would do?"

Shelke considered for a long minute, before shaking her head. "I am afraid I do not know where she would go if she survived. But if she was alive I am sure we would have already heard reports of mass slaughter. She enjoyed such things, spoke of them often." there was silence for a few moments, it was true, if she were alive they should have been hearing reports of murders. Vincent doubted Rosso would care for lying low, she would probably enjoy the chase.

"She asked Weiss if she could have the task to kill Reeve Tuesti." Shelke offered.

"She did?" Vincent frowned deeper, the mere thought of Rosso attacking Reeve was enough to make his stomach clench and his anger rise. He ruthlessly shoved the feeling aside, Reeve was dead, there was no point thinking of 'might have been's'

"Azul mentioned that he thought she had no intentions of killing him, that he could see the lust in her eyes when she looked at the picture. Rosso went a little crazy after that, and told us that she would kill him, but that she wished to make it last. It quickly disintegrated into a trade of insults and insinuations." Shelke told him easily.

Vincent's blood ran cold. He couldn't explain it. But right there was the answer, the answer to something Vincent couldn't place. He closed his eyes briefly, pushing aside the images of Reeve and Rosso. He knew what she was like, ruthless and twisted. Thinking of Reeve in her clutches was terrible and horrifying. With a muted growl he opened his eyes.

Reeve was dead.

Why did he have to keep reminding himself of that fact. Whatever feelings he had held for the man were null and void now.

Reeve was dead.

"Thank you Shelke." he said, and she knew by his tone it was a dismissal, because she left. He remained in Reeve's office, surrounded by Reeve's files, filled with Reeve's neat penmanship, and wished he was anywhere else.

~x~

Screams in Nibelhiem, but not from the Mansion as one would assume, instead the sound drifted through the mountains and to the small town from the old reactor. People here said that it sounded like the wailing of a banshee, every night for the past month, calling out for the death of someone. Yuffie did not believe these rumours, but they were enough to keep her in Nibelhiem until nightfall.

After Reeve's memorial service, Yuffie had left Edge, unable to stay and look on the ruins of Midgar without feeling a keen loss for the man they had lost. She had been the one to work most closely with him since Sephiroth's defeat, and she was one of the few people who found Cait Sith, Reeves more playful side to be fun to hang out with.

After the tragedy there she needed to return to Wutai, and reaffirm herself, make sure her father was still alive and kicking, that Deepground had not launched some late attack that had wiped her people off the map. She needed to go home. Nibelhiem had been a necessary stop along the road, to pick up some supplies and move on quickly.

She should have perhaps asked Cid to have one of his airships drop her back, but taking the long route allowed her the time to come to terms with the worst of possibilities, and to think on Reeve, and whether she really wanted to go back and work with the WRO. Vincent wouldn't stay the leader for long, she could feel it, and she doubted anyone else would be as accepting as Reeve had been to her quirks, he hadn't minded if she pocketed the odd materia she had come across so long as no one got angry about it.

But the talk of the townspeople had her intrigued. Wailings of a banshee? She had never heard of banshee's before, so the very notion of some dead, ghost woman, combing her head and crying for the dead made her curious, and she wanted to hear it herself before setting off again. She did not really believe it, after all, ghosts didn't really exist.

Night was falling slowly, in reds and pinks and oranges, and she wondered briefly if Reeve had ever been here. She didn't think he had been, and that made her a little more sad. He probably would have liked to see it, it was a really pretty place.

She was jerked out of her contemplation by the sharp echoing cry that seemed to use the slight wind to reach her, and she shuddered, knowing at once that it was not the sound of a ghost, but the very real sound of a person in great pain. She could see why they thought it might be a ghost, after all, how far away must the person be to have the sound so faded and echoed.

She was on her feet and heading up the rocky path towards the reactor before she could think. Knowing only that she would regret not going to investigate the sound. It took her hours to navigate the mountains, only vaguely recalling the way to the reactor, the cries continued, but each time they grew fainter, but as she approached the reactor they became clearer to.

She threw caution to the wind as she approached the reactor, feeling ill at the thought of someone suffering as much as this person seemed to be. Bolting up the metal steps, her footsteps silent, she entered the reactor, it's door slightly open. The cries had vanished into whimpers, which were in their own way more heart wrenching. Not calling out, assuming there must be someone causing the pain she snuck quickly through the reactor, following the whimpers, which echoed hollowly off the metal walls.

"Hush my precious." she heard, the voice naggingly familiar, though Yuffie could not place it. There was a muted howl, much closer that Yuffie thought it should have been. The familiar voice laughed and continued speaking. "If your cries were not so wonderful, I would have removed your tongue and eaten it already darling."

Yuffie moved closer to the voice, and peered round a corner. Her breath caught and her heart stopped dead at the sight. Pinned to a ragged, dirty mattress was Reeve, with Rosso the Crimson rubbing herself against him, one of her claws carving deep, elaborate patterns into his skin. Yuffie could see the agony on his face, and Rosso removed her claw and put her mouth over the bleeding cuts.

"Kill… me…" Reeve begged hoarsely.

Yuffie could see the despair, and she hated to see Reeve, cool, calm and in control Reeve, reduced to the man she saw before her. She did not think, just reacted, and it was the sheer surprise that gave her the advantage it did. The Conformer caught the unaware Rosso across her back and head, biting deeply into the skin and driving her to the side so that she was forced off Reeve, and knocked her head hard on the metal wall.

Yuffie did not wait to see if she was dead, injured or faking, she just rushed forward to Reeve, swallowing the bile when she saw him. Casting a cautious glare at the Tsviet woman, who lay crumpled not far away, Yuffie quickly pulled her fox poncho from her bag, and as best she could, put it on Reeve. She forced her sickness down when she saw his arm, black and twisted in ways arms were not supposed to go. There was no time to catalogue the mass of cuts, bruises and holes in Reeve, she had to get him out of here before that woman woke up and killed them both.

Her eyes glanced at Reeve's face, and she found normally warm and laughing brown eyes glazed and haunted, not really seeing her. She reached for his face, thinking that maybe her touch would comfort him, but he flinched away from her. She shot another glare at the prone Tsviet, and angrily stomped towards her, lifting the first thing she cam across, a broken metal pipe, and brought it down hard on Rosso, again and again, hitting her where she could and hoping the bitch was dead.

When she was done, and shaking from the effort, she dropped the pipe, a little distraught at what she had done, though if she could be bothered right now to think of it, more distraught over the fact that she didn't care if she had killed her. She turned back to Reeve, who had slumped, giving into the pain, eyes closed and breathing shallow and erratic. She couldn't take any chances, she needed to get Reeve out of here.

It took everything she had to make herself move him, to lift him, biting her lip when he let out a quite groan of pain no matter where she held him. He found no peace even in unconsciousness. She carried him outside, unhappy with how easy she could do so. He was lighter than Marlene. It was only his size compared to hers that made it difficult. When she had him outside, and a fair distance from the reactor she dug out her mobile phone.

She cast an apprehensive glance back towards the reactor, she had not killed Rosso, now wasn't the time for false self praise. Her gaze settled on Reeve, propped up against a rock, his head lolling to the side, showing off scabs and new cuts along his cheek and neck.

"Pick up Vinnie, Pick up!" she hummed nervously, anxious.

__

"Valentine."

"Oh god Vincent!" Yuffie screamed quietly. "Oh god, your never going to believe this. Vincent you need to send a truck, an airship, anything! And you need to do it now, I don't think I killed her, and when she wakes up and realises what I've done, we're dead Vinnie, dead! And I can't be dead, and Reeve can't be dead either! Not after I just found him, and god Vinnie, he's in such an awful state, and I don't even want to think of what she did to him… Please you have to send something, now Vinnie!"

The was a long and ominous silence on the other end, and Yuffie started to think they had been cut off, which wouldn't be good at all. "Vincent?" she knew she sounded just the smallest bit afraid, but right now it didn't matter. She didn't know what to do, for once, and she needed Vincent to do something… to tell her he was on his way, anything!

_"Reeve?" _Vincent asked, his voice hushed.

"Yes, Reeve. Please say you have something coming to get us?" she begged.

_"Where are you Yuffie, and how badly injured is Reeve?"_

"We're in Nibelhiem! And he's in a really bad way Vincent." she worried her lower lip, feeling tears of frustration well up.

_"We'll be there in a few hours Yuffie, look after Reeve, and call me if there's any change, or your in trouble."_ Vincent told her and hung up.

Yuffie swallowed hard, a few hours, she could handle a few hours. Reeve would be fine. Even she wouldn't be able to back his condition any worse than it was. She looked back at the reactor and then to Reeve again. They needed to be further away.

_I apologise for how abrupt the ending seems, but Yuffie is having a minor breakdown, as would any 18 year old girl, even if she was a super cool stealth ninja, if she found someone she was close to, and thought dead in the situation Reeve was in. I hope despite the random strangeness (which you will forgive) you have enjoyed this chapter._

_Please review._


	5. Life, Death and Dying

They were going to be too late.

That was all Vincent could think, pacing back and force across the bridge of the _Shera_. They were going to be late, and Reeve was going to be dead for real this time. Yuffie had been too panicked when she called, which meant that she wasn't even sure she had done any damage to Rosso at all; and for someone as self confident as Yuffie to be that uncertain meant that there was no hope of them reaching them in time.

Not only would he lose Reeve again, he would lose Yuffie as well, because she wouldn't leave Reeve's side.

He let out a wordless growl, feeling the Galian Beast surge beneath his skin, wishing that he still possessed the spirit of Chaos, he was so far beyond his control limit that he would have reached Nibelhiem in less than an hour.

"We'll git there in time Vincent, just hold onto yer britches." Cid broke through his mounting frustration, dragging him back from the edge of losing it completely. "I won't have you turning dog beast on my ship!"

Taking a deep breath, Vincent turned to face forward, to see out the domed window, intending to pick out what landmarks he knew, the tension in the room dissipated a bit, making him realise that he had been scaring all but Cid in the room.

They were just past Junon.

They were going to be too late!

VIIVIIVIIVII

Rosso was amused.

It was not Vincent who had taken her playmate. If it had been she would be dead; he would have ensured her demise. She was curious, she did like a good mystery and it surely was a mystery, for there were not many who would dare to attack her, even if they had the element of surprise. And who would care enough for her little toy to attack her at all, save Vincent of course; but then, it had been so long, perhaps her words were true, perhaps Vincent did not care for Reeve Tuesti at all.

But still, she must find her playmate and his rescuer, and then kill the wretch in front of him, Tuesti still retained his kindness, she had not yet destroyed him completely, it would hurt him to see another person tortured and killed, hurt him not only because they were being hurt, but because of the guilt he would drown himself in when he felt relief that just for a little while it was not him.

He really was the most perfect victim.

Rosso began to hunt.

VIIVIIVIIVII

Yuffie didn't know what to do, she could not touch Reeve without him making a small sound of agony, and Rosso was out there, they could not afford to give their location away. She wished there as some way to ease his pain, but he had warned her when she had first started working for him to never, ever use any healing materia on him. He hadn't told her why, but she could still remember the look on his face when he had told her.

Her fingers were sweaty, and the handle of her throwing star was wet. It had been hours since she had called Vincent, and she knew it would be hours more before the Airship would arrive. But Rosso would find them sooner, Yuffie could practically smell her coming, and she was more afraid than she had ever been before.

"Please Hurry Vincent. Please!" she whispered.

VIIVIIVIIVII

Rosso was hunting. Taking her time. She would find her little toy and his rescuer soon, there was no way they could hope to get far, not with Reeve's broken body. So she walked slowly, searched carefully, and knew, could almost taste the fear as every step brought her closer.

She was going to enjoy this.

VIIVIIVIIVII

Vincent was falling.

When he'd sighted the Nibelhiem reactor he was gone, out the hatch and hurtling towards the earth before anyone could stop him. He landed with a crash and a roar of rage, and when the dust settled he was Galian Beast, and he was running, faster than the airship could travel, spurred on by the desperate, overwhelming need to be in those mountains, to find Rosso, and to tear her limb from limb.

He reached the reactor, tore through the metal and was inside. The Beast moved quickly, looking everywhere, and with each new smell, of blood, fear, despair, hate, rape Vincent's anger was pushed far beyond anything he had felt before. Then he found the place where all these smells combined, and Galian could do nothing but howl it's anger, fuelled by Vincent's burning hate.

Hate for Rosso.

Hate for ShinRa.

Hate for Hojo.

Hate for every single thing that had lead to this moment.

VIIVIIVIIVII

Rosso heard the howl, and a slow smile spread across her face.

Vincent was here.

She would find her playmate later, now she would have to entertain her guest.

VIIVIIVIIVII

Yuffie heard the howl, and shivered; she had never heard the Gailian as furious as he sounded now. She had never guessed Vincent to be capable of such an extreme reaction. She looked at Reeve, biting her lip and praying to Leviathan that Vincent would make quick work of Rosso. Reeve needed to be as far from here as possible, as quickly as possible. How he was not already dead, she didn't know.

VIIVIIVIIVII

Vincent transitioned seamlessly from raging beast to something not unlike Chaos himself as he met Rosso in battle, weapons forgotten as he allowed himself to give in to the primal need to destroy her with his bear hands.

It was fast, furious, and bloody.

There were no words, no sounds, save those of flesh tearing, of bones shattering.

There would be death today.

And it would not be his.

VIIVIIVIIVII

Cid waited uneasily by the ladder to the _Shera_, the ground littered with cigarette butts and an empty packet. Reeve was onboard, the ships medic looking him over, but Cid didn't need a doctor to tell him things didn't look good. Reeve was a hairs-breath fro death, it was plain to see. Cid had never seen anyone that close to death before, and it had shaken him.

Finally, from around the twisting path, strode Vincent, the last person to get aboard ship so they could get Reeve back to the WRO, and people who would be able to help him. Cid dropped his cigarette in shock when Vincent got close enough to see clearly. He would need some serious medical attention as well.

He was covered in blood, from head to toe, and Cid knew by his expression that not a single drop of it was his own. He was limping badly, and from the way he was holding himself Cid could tell most, if not all his ribs were broken on the left side, along with his arm.

"Reeve?" was all Vincent said as he approached.

"Not good." Cid answered. "But alive for now."

Vincent nodded, and allowed himself to be helped onto the airship.

Everything would be ok now…

_Sorry for the long wait. I lost interest in this fandom for a long time. I'm still not as into it as I was before, so the next update might be a long time in coming. Please excuse the jumpiness of this chapter, but I felt it was the best way to get everything that needed to be said in there. As to Reeve's not wanting healing materia used on him, I'm using an idea that I had intended to be part of the Children Series for his character, so it will be explained later._


End file.
